We’re Living in a Golden Age of Sam Elliott, Sex Symbol of a Certain Age

When the trailer for the new season of Grace and Frankie came out, one thing that should not have surprised anyone was that Sam Elliott has been cast as a new love interest for Grace (Jane Fonda). Sorry about it, last season’s paramour Craig T. Nelson. There’s a new man in town, and he’s currently Hollywood’s red-hot-lover for the over-50 set. And it’s all happened within the last 15 months.

Grace and Frankie will be the fifth project in little over a year where the 71-year-old Sam Elliott will be playing a character in a romantic (or formerly romantic) context opposite one of Hollywood’s most accomplished older actresses. In Grandma, Elliott was Lily Tomlin’s ex, whose heart still burns with … something for her. Passion? Anger? Whatever it is, it ultimately added up to the best scene in the film. Elliott’s role in I’ll See You in My Dreams opposite Blythe Danner was less fraught and more classically romantic, with the pair embarking on a courtship that feels so refreshing in a movie that takes older lives seriously. On Netflix‘s The Ranch, Elliott plays a character seemingly drawn from his famously gruff voice, but even between all the growled insults hurled at his sons he gets some time to maintain a sexual relationship with his estranged wife, played by Debra Winger. Even when playing a vicious crime boss on Justified, he was opposite Mary Steenburgen as his literal partner in crime.

Now, with Grace and Frankie, Elliott re-teams with Netflix (and with his Grandma star Tomlin) to star in the role that’s become his specialty: the romantic lead to one of our finest living actresses. Granted, Justified and The Ranch don’t exactly qualify as romantic roles, strictly speaking, but they all paint a picture. Particularly when you think that, before 2015, the last time Elliott played a character defined by any kind of relationship was when he and Steenburgen played a law enforcement couple in Did You Hear About the Morgans? Hardly more than a year later, we’re at the point where I’m describing J.K. Simmons’ role in The Meddler as a “Sam Elliott type” because he’s a plain-spoken older gentleman with a mustache who’s romancing Susan Sarandon.

It wasn’t always like this. He was sexy as hell all the way through the 1970s, even if he was often guided towards character actor roles. But check out this clip from 1978’s The Legacy (leave it to a horror movie) for a look at the kind of sexuality Elliott was working with.

As the years went on, though — past, say, a role as Cher’s boyfriend in Mask — Elliott’s most consistent romantic context was with beef.

For a long time, Sam Elliott the sexual object was lost. Elliott was always great at playing enigmatic loners, so that’s where he got cast. Think the Stranger/narrator from The Big Lebowski. Or how his Up in the Air as the chief pilot for American Airlines. He played sheriffs (Tombstone) and generals (Hulk; Gettysburg) and bouncers’ mentors (Road House). The closest he got to playing against type in the last 20 years was as Ron Swanson’s liberal doppelgänger on Parks and Recreation.

Which is why we should be celebrating this new golden age of Sam Elliott as Hollywood’s hottest romantic lead. This last year of Amorous Sam Elliott has been a gift, and we should cherish it as such, so that it continues to flourish.